A Life Best Not Lived
by Neko-Salosa
Summary: Rockman wakes up as Saito in a strange world. He and Netto find that the other Crest Holders are pracically their neighbors but they can't say anything just yet. Can they make it through what Duo is planning? [Finished]
1. Chapter 1

Netto opened his eyes against the streaming sunlight that was coming into his room. He groaned and turned over in his bed to try and ward off the intrusive light but he was barraged by someone yelling at him.

"Come on sleepyhead, wake up!" a bossy female voice said to him.

Netto was too out of it to wonder why a voice he didn't recognize was yelling at him. "Nh… go away…" he whined.

"I can't go away Netto, now get up," the voice said again.

"Netto-kun," a softer more concerned voice said quietly.

"Hm?" Netto sat up and rubbed his eyes, "What is it?"

"Oh sure, you get up for your brother but not for me," the voice said saucily.

"Brother!" Netto said in an alarmed voice and looked up to see his mirror image staring back at him. The only two slight differences between them being that Rockman's hair was slightly tidier then Netto's and his eyes were flecked with small specks of green making them appear slightly hazel.

/Netto-kun, something happened last night/ Saito muttered to Netto mentally.

Netto was still in shock/No kidding/

"You're acting like you've never seen Saito before," the bossy voice said again. "Netto, are you all right?" it asked with a bit more concern.

Netto turned to face where the voice was coming from. A purple PET with a navi whose age looked to be in her early twenties was there. She wore a purple and black jumpsuit with green knee high boots and wrist high gloves. Her hair was shoulder length a dark blue and her helmet was a combination of all four colors with a black gem in the center. "I'm fine…" Netto said falteringly while taking in the new navi's appearance.

She crossed her arms and regained her saucy attitude, "Well if that's the case, get up Netto or you'll be late for school." She turned her gaze to Saito, "You get ready too, Saito or Stone will have my head."

"Stone?" Saito asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah Stone, your navi," she said in a hard voice. "What is with you two today?"

Netto and Saito looked at one another and shrugged. They needed to get out of listening range of the somewhat hyper navi before they could really talk.

Saito walked over to his side of the room and opened a drawer. He pulled out a sky blue sleeveless hoodie, an orange t-shirt and a pair of dark grey shorts and went to the bathroom to put them on. Netto rooted around in his drawer only to find an orange sleeveless hoodie, a pale blue t-shirt and another pair of dark grey shorts. "No bandana…" he muttered darkly.

"Hm?" the navi in the purple PET asked.

"N-nothing," Netto said as cheerfully as he could and took his clothes to the bathroom where Saito was currently leaving.

"Netto-kun, what is going on?" he asked.

Netto shrugged and looked back to his room, "I have no idea. But let's just go with it for now. Maybe we'll find something out at school."

Saito nodded apprehensively and returned to his room. Netto went into the bathroom and proceeded to get dressed.

Saito looked at his half of the room which was neat and tidy, and as if there was some kind of invisible line there was Netto's half, messy as ever. Saito sighed and rubbed his head, looking at the disaster area. Maybe now that he was in the real world he could get Netto to pick up.

"Saito-kun, are you almost ready?" a soft voice asked behind him.

Saito spun around to see a navi in a light green PET looking very similar in age to that of the navi in the purple PET. This navi had on a pale green and grey jumpsuit with moss colored boots and gloves. His helmet was a mixture of green and grey and there was a dark grey stone in the middle of his helmet where the stone was in the other navi's helmet. His mellow appearance was a stark contrast to that of the other navi's. "S-stone?" Saito asked.

Stone smiled, "Very good Saito-kun," who seemed to be taking his operators seemingly sudden memory blank in a stride. "Did you remember your homework?"

"My…" Saito looked around the room and saw two back packs lying on the floor side by side. Netto's or what he presumed to be Netto's backpack was lying open with random papers falling out while his was zipped shut and standing right up against the wall. "Yeah, I did…" Saito said in a daze.

Netto came back into the room and looked around. "Well?" he asked.

"Well, get my PET and let's go Netto!" the navi in the purple PET said. "You two are going to be late for school."

"Gem, calm down," Stone said. "They still have ten minutes to get there."

"No…" Saito said, grabbing onto the one thing that seemed normal at that point. "We need to get going. Come on, Netto-kun," he said while grabbing his back pack.

"R-right," Netto said, walked over to his backpack, shoving the loose leaf papers inside and zipping it closed. Then he walked over to the purple PET and picked it up, "Ready Gem?" he asked giving the navi a broad grin.

Gem seemed to gather some comfort from the action; it seemed to Saito that it was because Netto was finally acting normally. "Ready when you are!" she said in a loud voice.

Saito picked up his pale green PET and smiled at his navi. It was so weird to think about a navi being his. His navi… Saito let the phrase roll around in his head as they walked out of the door.

/Are you all right/ Netto asked him.

Saito caught Netto's eye and then looked at the cement/Netto-kun, what's going on here? I don't understand…/

/Neither do I/ Netto replied/But we need to do whatever we can to find out just what is going on here…/

Saito looked up at the looming Akihara Elementary and gave it a resolute stare/Right./

"You two are awfully quiet," Gem snipped.

"I'm still tired," Netto said while crossing his arms in front of himself.

"Oh?" Gem said. "Maybe I should have let you over sleep then," she teased.

"Hey, that's not nice," Netto said in spite of himself. He rather liked the odd navi, even if she was a little pushy.

Netto and Saito made their way into the elementary school building and walked into their class room. There was Mariko-Sensei and Netto's class mates. Netto scanned the room looking for any oddities. /Netto-kun, over there/ Saito hissed in his mind. Netto's gaze snapped to the far corner where Jasmine and Dingo were both sitting next to Meiru. All three were staring at Netto and Saito with identical awed expression.

/Crap/ Netto thought. /Just… pretend we are part of this fake world for now. We can't explain this quite yet./

/Agreed/ Saito said and they took two empty seats in the front row. There was a general buzz of excitement but they were all asked to quiet down by Mariko in the front when the bell chimed 8.

"Good morning class," she said while picking up her pointer and pulling down a modern map of the world.

"Good morning Mariko-sensei," they all said obediently.

"Today, we're going to learn about the Country of Creamland and its monarchy. So if you could all bring up the 'Creamland' file on your computers we can start class."

/Why is Dingo and Jasmine here/ Netto asked Saito.

/I have no idea, then again why am I here/ Saito replied.

Netto opened the correct file on his PC and sighed/That's a really good question./

"Saito-kun, who was the last ruler of Creamland?" Mariko asked jerking them out of their mental chat.

"Um, Princess Pride?" Saito guessed. Who knew what was screwed up in this world.

Mariko beamed at him, "Correct, very good, I see you've done your homework, Saito-kun."

/Hey, I knew that/ Netto muttered.

/Heh, sorry Netto-kun/ Saito replied.

"Out of curiosity, does anyone know her reason for abdicating the throne?" Mariko asked. Almost every hand in the class went up except Netto, Saito, Meiru, Dingo and Jasmine who all looked silently confused.

/Abdicated/

/She gave up the throne, Netto-kun/ Saito explained.

"Yes, Sai-kun," Mariko said pointing to a boy in the third row.

"Princess Pride gave up the throne to her cousin so she could pursue a career as a Net Savior and program creator so she could better the world," he said quickly.

"A text book answer, very well said, Sai-kun," Mariko smiled at the boy who beamed in return.

"Now, the current ruler of Creamland is…" Mariko started but Netto and Saito's minds were elsewhere.

/Is this place showing us the future/ Netto asked.

/Can't be, we're still 12 Netto-kun. Maybe some kind of alternate reality./

/But why/ Netto asked. /And who/

Saito frowned/I'd like to know the answer to that myself. But… for now, maybe we should keep our distance from people we knew in our reality. If they don't know what's going on, then maybe we don't have to explain about the link./

/Right/ Netto agreed.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

This fic will be somewhat short. This is for Yue, hope you enjoy Yue :3


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as the bell signaling the end of school rang, Netto and Saito's PET's both started to ring loudly. Netto took his out and turned on the screen, "Yes?" he asked.

What seemed to be Manabe appeared and smiled at them. "Netto-kun, Saito-kun, I have a mission for you. Can you two go to the downtown Net City Bank building and help with a virus problem?"

"Yes ma'am!" Netto said and the screen went blank.

/Netto-kun, I can't Net Battle…/ Saito warned his twin.

/It's easy, just follow my lead/ Netto said while grabbing Saito's arm and pulling him out of the class room.

"What on earth is going on here?" Meiru asked as she, Jasmine and Dingo watched them leave.

"I have no idea," Dingo and Jasmine said together.

"They could just be part of this world," Medi said. "I mean, they would have said something to us, or at least Netto would have."

Roll nodded, "Right and Rockman wasn't in Netto's PET either. A female navi who said her name was Gem was in there. That's not the Netto from our world."

"So, is Netto here?" Dingo asked.

"Who knows…" Meiru said.

Before the kids could speculate further their PET's began to ring in much the same way that Netto's did. Meiru was the first to pick hers up. "Hello?" she asked.

Mejin nodded, "There is a problem downtown and we need back up, can you go there."

"S-sure…" Meiru said.

The screen went blank after a hastily said good bye. "He normally calls Netto…" she said.

"Netto's gone," Jasmine pointed out.

"Yeah, but they were sent for back up. We're being sent to an emergency," Meiru said.

"Maybe this world's Netto can't cross fuse?" Roll suggested. Miraculously, all three has syncro chips upon entering the world but apparently Netto didn't.

"How odd…" Meiru said.

"Worry about it later, right now we need to help," Dingo said.

"Right!" Jasmine replied and together all three left the school room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Netto and Saito walked to where the small red dot on the map indicated they should go. Interestingly enough this world was a perfect mirror image of the world they knew. Netto didn't even need to ask for directions because he already knew the way. "Well, there it is," Gem said looking at a large building that was giving off random spurts of electricity.

"Not looking in the best of shape is it?" Netto mused.

Saito sighed/Netto-kun, how do I fight./

Netto looked at his twin/Just… copy what I do for now, okay? I'll try and teach you later./

Saito nodded and plugged in Stone/All right./

Netto plugged in Gem and the navi appeared next to Stone. "Mostly electric viruses here Netto," she said.

"All right then, Aqua Sword, battle chip, slot in!" Netto yelled and put the chip into his PET.

Saito looked at Netto who nodded back and he too slotted in an aqua sword, although with not as much vigor as his brother.

Both net navi's launched themselves into a concentrated bunch of viruses and began to attack. After about three minutes of hacking at them with the aqua swords the viruses were gone from that area. "All right!" Gem said. "This is more like it."

"Yeah," Netto chuckled while sending her a sword battle chip. "School was pretty boring, wasn't it?"

"Netto-kun!" Saito reprimanded.

Netto elbowed him playfully. "Be careful and send Stone a battle chip or he'll get hurt."

Saito sighed and sent Stone a sword battle chip and once again the navi's launched themselves into another small fray.

/Enjoying yourself/ Saito asked.

/Just because I'm stuck in psycho back world with you doesn't mean I can't enjoy the fact I'm with you/ Netto said while giving Gem an aqua tower battle chip.

/Netto-kun…/ Saito said softly.

/Hey, we'll find out what's going on. But since this world apparently wants us to net battle then we'll net battle, and get some answers when we go back to HQ to report it/ Netto said.

/That is a surprisingly good plan/ Saito teased.

/Now who's having fun/ Netto teased back.

Saito gave Gem a mini bomb, starting to feel a little more confident. /Fun/

"Hey, you two are being awfully quiet!" Gem yelled while pulling out a default bow and arrow and aiming it at another virus.

"We're just thinking!" Netto yelled back while giving her another sword chip.

"That's new," she muttered.

"I heard that!" Netto yelled at her.

Saito hid a small smile behind his hand and gave a side shot battle chip to Stone.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

When it was all over Netto and Saito quickly left to go to the head quarters where hopefully they could find some answers.

They walked into the familiar building and went straight to Manabe's desk. She looked up at them and gave them a warm grin. "Hello, I see you two have already wrapped things up. Excellent work."

Netto and Saito both nodded, playing along with the invisible script that world had set up for them.

"For now, can you two stay here, I think there might be another attack soon and it'd be easier if I knew where you two were."

"All right," Netto said. It was perfect, it would give them and excuse to explore and look around.

They left her office and started to walk down to the rest area where Netto had fallen asleep many a night after particularly hard missions.

/Let's go to the archives, maybe some answers will be there/ Saito said.

Netto nodded and they both went into the elevator to go to the archive floor.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

In a different part of the head quarters, Laika, Enzan, Jasmine, Pride, Miyabi, Tesla, Charlie, Dingo, Yuriko and Nenji were all trying to make sense at what had happened.

"It's like our lives were re-written," Pride said softly. "I don't even have a cousin in the 'real world', abdicating was never a choice I was given. Yet here…"

Laika nodded, "My unit is on permanent deploy to Japan to keep an eye on a tension between two countries that don't even exist."

Tesla scoffed, "Well, someone is obviously toying around with us, and I don't like it."

"Duo?" Jasmine asked.

Charlie sighed and crossed his fingers over his mouth. "Most likely."

"If that's the case, then why isn't Netto here?" Enzan asked coolly. "He was the first to crossfuse and the first to be marked with the crest."

"Netto is here…" Meiru said hesitantly. "But Rockman sure isn't… and Netto… he…"

"What?" Charlie asked.

"I don't think it's 'our' Netto. I think the Netto here is a product of this world. Like Manabe-san and Mejin-san. They're not the people we know, they were just created for this world."

"Then were is the Netto we know?" Laika asked. "Enzan is right, if this is some kind of test from Duo then why isn't Netto here?"

"Maybe it isn't a test from Duo," Jasmine ventured.

"Then why are only the crest holders here?" Yuriko asked. "I agree with Enzan and Laika, the kid must be here. Somewhere."

"There where is Rockman?" Roll asked. "He's most certainly not here at all. His ID signal doesn't exist in this world."

"Right," Dingo murmured. "And when we did see Netto he…"

Everyone else looked at Dingo, "He what?" Enzan asked sharply when Dingo trailed off.

"He was a twin…" Dingo said. "It sounds weird but in this world there is a Netto and a Saito Hikari. Rockman doesn't exist and their navi's are Gem and Stone."

Enzan blinked while everyone else tried to absorb the news much like Jasmine, Meiru and Dingo did that morning. "What do you know?" Yuriko asked Enzan who looked thoughtful, rather then shocked.

"I…" Enzan sighed. "A while ago I was looking through old newspaper articles to try and get some information on an old criminal. While I was looking through the archives I stumbled across a birth announcement for a Netto and Saito Hikari. Saito Hikari did exist as a human for awhile but…"

"But?" Nenji asked.

"Well… after I saw that I wanted to know why I had never met a 'Saito Hikari' so after I found the information I was looking for I continued on that link. Turns out, Saito Hikari died at the age of 18 months from a heart condition called HBD," Enzan said.

"So… in this world, if Saito Hikari exists maybe, there was no need to have Rockman," Laika mused.

"It's a theory," Enzan said with a shrug. "Maybe if Saito Hikari did exist then Hikari-Hakase would never have had to create a navi as powerful as Rockman to protect and look over Netto."

"This is all speculation though," Meiru said. "And it still doesn't answer the question of where is Netto and Rockman."

"Maybe that is Netto, but because Saito exists Rockman does not," Miyabi pondered.

"Then why didn't he say anything to us this morning?" Jasmine said.

"Well… he was with Saito and his navi, maybe he couldn't?" Meiru ventured.

"Then where is Rockman?" Searchman asked.

"And how does this fit in with what Duo may or may not be planning?" Tesla said crossly.

"Who knows…" Charlie said. "Once again, this is all purely speculation. We don't have anymore of an idea about what's going on here then what we did before. Whatever the reasons for why we are here the only obvious this is that who ever or whatever brought us here rewrote our lives so that we are all conveniently in one place."

Tesla sighed and rubbed her head, "This is giving me a headache."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Next chappie /o/


	3. Chapter 3

Netto typed away on a computer looking at old files. "Why are we doing this anyway?" Gem asked.

"Because I'm curious," Netto answered vaguely.

Gem crossed her arms and smirked, "Riiiight…"

Netto ignored his navi and continued to root through old files. "Hey, Saito-nii-san, look at this," Netto said while pointing at the computer.

Saito blinked at Netto but overlooked the use of his name and looked at where Netto was pointing. "Enzan and Laika signed this," Saito mused.

"Yeah, the big hot shots," Gem said. "Think they're so great because they can crossfuse."

Netto and Saito exchanged glances. "So that's it," Netto murmured.

"What's it?" Gem asked.

"Nothing," Netto said innocently.

Gem crossed her arms, "You've sure been acting weird, Netto. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Netto said dismissively.

Gem glared at her Net Op but Stone just patted her on the shoulder. "It's all right, they're just looking for some information," he said.

"Right," Saito said as he looked at some more files.

Netto stretched and leaned back in his chair. "Wow I'm tired," he said.

Saito gave Netto a small smile, "Want me to get us something to drink?" he asked.

/Heh, this will be the first time you taste, better get something good/ Netto chided him mentally as he said, "Sure."

Saito gave Netto a real grin and left the room. Netto sighed and pressed the enter button on the keyboard. "I'd really appreciate a mission right about now," Netto said.

"Bored?" Gem teased.

"No…" Netto said slowly.

Gem crossed her arms and smirked, "Sure you aren't. Just like I'm not bored."

Netto shrugged and continued to look for more clues as to where they were and why. No one ever said it would be easy.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Saito got the juice that he always saw Netto getting and started to make his way back upstairs. He walked past the room where the other crest holders were talking quietly. "There's the kid," Tesla said while taking a side glance out the door. "Maybe we can talk to him now. See what the hell is going on," she muttered.

Meiru took a double take at the person walking by the door, "Tesla wait… I don't think…" she started but her warning fell on deaf ears as Tesla walked out of the room.

Saito looked up at Tesla who towered over him with her hands on her hips. Saito smiled nervously as Tesla greeted him, "Well, well, well, the kid finally reveals himself. Do you like this world kid?"

"I…" Saito said in a soft voice.

"Netto, we've been trying to find you for ages," Pride said.

Saito laughed nervously, "I'm not Netto-kun," he said. "I'm Saito," then for good measure he bowed politely. "Pleased to meet you."

Everyone else just gaped. Let alone the fact that he looked exactly like Netto, but he was being polite. "We're sorry," Meiru said. "Although, can you tell Netto we're looking for him?"

"Sure," Saito said. "But we're kinda busy. See you tomorrow at school, Meiru-san," Saito said and quickly left the room.

Meiru sighed, "I tried to warn you."

"How could you tell?" Tesla screeched.

Meiru crossed her arms, "Listen, Tesla, Netto has been my best friend for almost our entire lives. I grew next door to him and I know him probably better then anyone but his parents and Rockman, I know what Netto looks like and even if they do look really similar, I could still tell," Meiru said heatedly.

Enzan sighed and looked at the dark room they were just in. "So, we're back to square one."

"So it would seem, Enzan-sama," Blues answered.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Here you go," Saito said handing Netto the can of juice.

"Thank you," Netto said, taking the beverage gratefully and drinking half of it in one gulp.

"Did you find anything else?" Saito asked while trying to figure out how to open his can.

Netto grinned, set down his own can and opened it for him. "Yeah, apparently we're not special force operatives anymore," Netto said.

"What do you mean 'anymore' you two were never special force. Just because you can't crossfuse, what bull…" Gem started but her mouth was covered by Stone.

"Thanks Stone," Saito said who wasn't in the mood to listen to someone rant.

Stone gave Saito a grin and nodded.

Saito took a sip of his juice and his eyes widened. /It's good…/ he said.

/See…/ Netto prodded Saito. /We'll see if there's a Backwards World version of Maha Ichiban here/ Netto said.

/Backwards World/ Saito asked.

/Yeah, it's what I'm calling this place./ Netto said.

Saito shrugged/Works for me/ he said as he continued to drink his juice.

"So what else did you find out?" he asked Netto out loud.

"Well, everyone else is here," he said. /Meaning the crest holders/ Netto explained.

/Right/ Saito replied.

"And they're all able to cross fuse, and… that's about it," Netto said.

"We could have told you that much," Stone said.

Netto grinned, "Yeah, but finding out stuff is fun. Besides, re-reading some of these old mission reports is funny."

"Did you read the one where Enzan and Blues ran into Narcy during the 'Pink Virus' fiasco?" Gem said while sniggering.

"Yeah!" Netto hooted. "It was hilarious!"

Saito shook his head amusedly and threw his empty can into the trash. "Well, we might as well get home. It's pretty late."

Netto looked at the clock that said 7:35. "Yeah, you're right."

"Plus we need to do our homework," Saito said matter of factly.

Netto groaned and Saito pulled his hapless twin out of his seat and started to steer him to the elevator.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The other crest holders were ready to call it a day as well. On the way out they saw Saito pulling Netto by his wrist out the door saying something about homework. Meiru giggled at the sight, "Almost like Rockman," she said.

Saito pulled Netto into the cool evening air and together they started to walk home. /So now what/ Netto asked.

/We go home, do out homework and look for more answers tomorrow/ Saito said.

/Why the homework/ Netto whined.

/Because we're trying to blend in here. Drawing attention to ourselves is bad/ Saito replied.

/Doing my homework would draw attention to me/ Netto pointed out.

/Then we're doing it because it's the right thing to do/ Saito said.

/Not fair/ Netto muttered.

Saito just let a small grin form on his face and the rest of the trip was made in silence.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Saito woke Netto up the next morning and together they made the short trip to school. The day was similar to the day before aside from the fact that Dingo, Meiru and Jasmine kept on trying to talk to them but Saito kept on coming up with excuses to walk away or avoid them.

"Saito, are you sure we should be avoiding them like that, I mean it might make them suspicious," Netto muttered to him at lunch so their navi's couldn't hear.

"I know but… I think they're already suspicious so… I'm just trying to keep everything in control."

Netto nodded and continued to eat his hot lunch. "Okay, fair enough."

After school they weren't called away on any missions so Netto dragged Saito around the city looking for a possible Maha Ichiban but there was none to be found. "Weird," Netto said.

Saito shrugged/Well maybe since I don't exist as a navi things in this world did turn out like that./

/I guess…/ Netto said. "Well, let's go to the ice cream parlor on 9th instead," Netto said with a sudden mood swing.

"Ah, Netto-kun wait," Saito said as he was pulled by his wrist in the opposite direction.

Miyabi peered around the corner of the vacant building that used to be Maha Ichiban. "They're still together," he muttered.

Shadowman gave a sound of discontent. "They're twins; I guess it's to be expected."

Miyabi sighed and walked down the street. "I want some answers and I think Netto Hikari can answer some of them, whether he's part of this world or not."

"Just be careful of what you say until you know more about it," Shadowman warned.

"I know," Miyabi growled. "I know."

OOOOOOOOOOO

More exposition /o/ And go check out my profile page as I've posted a link to my shiny new fanfic web site :3


	4. Chapter 4

"Netto-kun, isn't that a little big?" Saito asked while staring the monstrous sundae in front of him.

Netto peeked at his twin around the side of the Banana Split. "Well, it is meant for two people, Saito-nii-san," Netto said with a grin. "So," he went on handing him a spoon, "eat up."

Saito gave him a large grin and took the spoon.

"So, when do you plan on doing your homework you two?" Stone asked them.

"Never!" Netto said in a happy voice through a mouthful of whipped cream.

"Netto-kun!" Saito reprimanded him. "When we get home, Stone," he told his navi.

Stone gave them a small grin and Gem crossed her arms in an annoyed fashion. "Do you have to be so responsible?" she asked.

"Someone has to," Stone answered her calmly.

Saito giggled a little while Netto and Gem both rolled their eyes.

/You know, Netto-kun/ Saito said to Netto while taking in a bite of strawberry ice cream. /We should really try on getting to the bottom of this./

/We will/ Netto answered him while diving into the chocolate scoop. /As soon as we get an excuse to go back to the head quarters./

Saito ate a cherry/Why do we need an excuse/ he asked.

Netto raised an eyebrow and took another enormous bite of chocolate ice cream. /Well, we can't just walk in, can we? I mean… wouldn't they ask why we were there without a mission/

/That is… surprisingly insightful of you/ Saito teased him.

/I can come up with good plans to, you know/ Netto said.

/I know, I know/ Saito said in an effort to calm down his brother.

Netto gave his older brother a superior look and took another bite of ice cream/I know/ he said.

Saito giggled and finished off the last bit of the giant sundae. "Hey!" Netto protested.

It was now Saito's turn to give the superior look. "Sorry, little brother."

"Ha ha, that was great Saito," Gem cheered.

"Hey, you're supposed to be my navi," Netto said.

"So?" Gem asked.

Netto stuck his tongue out at his navi and Saito grinned. /You used to do that to me…/ he said, slowly trailing of at the end, his smile fading.

/Yeah…/ Netto said.

/Netto-kun, we need to get home./

/I know/ Netto answered.

Before their conversation could continue their PET's began to ring. "Hello?" Netto asked.

"Hi Netto-kun, Hi Saito-kun," Manabe said cheerfully.

"Hello," they answered together.

"Listen, there is a special mission going on in a few hours," Manabe started.

"Hold on, isn't that for 'Special Agents' only?" Gem asked saucily.

Manabe gave a sigh that suggested she had heard the navi act like that many times before. "We need you two to open two locks in order to get inside," she explained. "Otherwise the mission won't work."

"Oh, you need our help now," Gem said, still eyeing Manabe contemptuously.

"Gem, hush," Netto said.

"But…"

Stone walked over and quietly placed his hand over Gem's mouth. "Thanks," Netto muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"No problem," Stone answered.

"Okay, so I'll give you two the coordinates and I expect you to be there in twenty minutes," Manabe explained.

"No problem!" Netto said with gusto. Saito nodded silently behind him and Manabe grinned.

"All right boys, I leave this in your hands," she said and cut off the connection.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Do we have to do this?" Enzan asked.

"Maybe going on missions will help us find out what is going on around here," Charlie said.

"But what if this is a trap?" Enzan countered.

"Then we just need to be prepared," Charlie answered.

"I agree," Laika said.

"You do?" Searchman asked.

"Yes, being prepared and having a plan of our own is the best we can do," Laika answered.

"Sounds good to me," Tesla said while crossing her arms across her chest. "As long as I can actually do something."

"So what exactly are we waiting for again?" Meiru asked.

"Manabe just said back up," Roll said.

"Ah!" they heard a loud voice behind them. They all turned around to see Netto and Saito running up to where they were.

"Netto?" Enzan asked.

"Uhhh, yeah…" Netto said while he rubbed the back of his head in an obvious ploy to cover a lie.

Saito stepped in before his twin could do any more damage. "We're the backup, Enzan-san," he said while bowing politely. "If you'll excuse us, we need to get ready to do our job," he said as he grabbed Netto by the wrist and pulled him off around the building they were supposed to get into.

"Netto-kun, you need to be more careful," Saito hissed once they got out of ear shot.

"Careful about what?" Gem asked curiously.

"Oh ummm… well you seee…" Saito said in a very evasive tone.

"We're just trying to keep away from the 'special agents' so we can do what we do best!" Netto said in a cheerful voice, taking a stab at a possibly sore spot Gem might have.

"Yes! That's right!" Gem announced. "We can do anything better then them a hundred times over!"

"Right!" Netto said.

Saito sighed and Stone smiled weakly. "At least they're into it, Saito-kun," he said.

"Yeah," Saito said.

"Any day now!" Gem yelled.

"Ready?" Netto asked.

"Yes!" Saito yelled.

"All right then, plug in, Gem.EXE, transmission!" Netto yelled as he pointed his PET at a small jack in link by the door.

"Plug in, Stone.EXE, transmission!" Saito yelled, for once feeling the exhilarating rush that came with plugging in a net navi.

"Here we go," Netto said while holding up a sword chip.

"They're really good," Enzan said as he watched Gem and Stone slice through the multiple viruses that were at the door way.

"We can do that just fine," Tesla said in a bossy voice. "Why call in the twins?"

"Go!" Gem yelled loudly.

"All right!" Stone said and pulled away from the fight.

Gem stood in front of Stone and took on the full brunt of the attack herself. "Netto, I need a shield chip, go defensive!"

"Defensive?" Enzan asked while watching the battle. "Netto doesn't…"

"All right!" Enzan heard Netto's voice say. A second later a shimmery shield covered Gem as she held up a defense in front of Stone while he did something in the back ground.

"Stone, I want you to hack in and destroy the main defense system," Saito's voice said.

One minute later there was a final burst of light and the door opened in front of the other crest holders. "That's why…" Laika said.

Netto's face appeared on their screens, or maybe it was Saito's. "What are you waiting for, go!" Netto's voice yelled.

"Right," Jasmine said and ran into the building. Not long after, everyone else followed, determined to get some answers.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"All right, that did nothing!" Tesla said.

"I hate to say this, but she's right," Yuriko said.

"We need a sure fire way of getting information," Enzan said. "And doing these missions aren't helping."

"Then what do we do?" Meiru asked.

Enzan looked at his PET. "We need to get a hold of Netto, alone."

"Why just Netto? What if he is part of this world?" Jasmine asked.

"That is a risk we have to take," Enzan said. "We need to find out something. Anything at this point. The longer we spend here the longer whoever brought us here has to do whatever he, she or it has planned."

"What is the plan?" Nenji asked.

"Good question," Charlie said.

"I'll go get Netto before he leaves," Pride said and took off around the corner.

"So, where do we go now?" Netto asked.

Saito sighed, "Let's go to the HQ to file another report," Saito said with a small hint in his voice.

"Right…" Netto said.

"Wait!" a voice yelled behind them. They turned around to see Pride running towards them.

"Oh no," Saito said.

"Netto," she said grabbing his wrist. "You need to come with me," Pride said.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

New Chappie :3 Enjoy /o/


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, wait!" Netto said, "I…"

"Please," Princess Pride turned around and looked at him with a pleading look in her eyes.

Netto sighed, "I…"

"Nah, it's okay Netto-kun, I'll meet you back at the house. But you have to do your own homework," he added with a touch of laughter.

Netto smiled, "All right, nii-san," he joked back.

"What, now you want to talk to us?" Gem snapped.

"Gem, be nice," Netto said quietly. "Or I'll mute the PET."

Pride could hear Gem's indignant grunt and she felt a small smile play across her lips. "Maybe you should leave you navi behind?" she whispered.

Netto glanced at Pride and realized what she was trying to do, "Um, no thanks," he answered. He needed Gem there as insurance that they wouldn't ask too many unanswerable questions.

"All right…" Pride answered unevenly.

"I'll see you later," Saito said and walked away.

"What do you need now?" Netto asked her.

"Just… come with me," she said.

Netto followed her until they turned the corner and all the other crest holders were there. 'Oh hell…' he thought. 'I don't want to explain, not now.'

"I don't see what the big deal is," Gem said saucily. "Besides, you need to get your homework done."

"This problem goes a little deeper then homework," Charlie said.

Netto sighed, "Look, I don't know what you guys want…" he said.

"HA!" Tesla yelped making him jump. "You know exactly what we're talking about. We know you're the crest holder 'Netto' and hiding isn't going to do anything. What's wrong, do you like living here? Is this life better then the one you had or something?" she snapped.

"Tesla!" Yuriko hissed.

Netto glared at them, "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said in a low voice and quickly walked away from them using a short cut to get home that only he knew about.

"What the hell was that?" Gem screeched. "'Crest holder' my ass."

"Heh, yeah," Netto said slowly.

"Are you okay?" Gem asked. "Is something wrong?"

Netto shook his head, "Nope!" he said brightly. "I'm fine. But I don't wanna do my homework."

Gem laughed, "Ah, too bad kid."

Netto shrugged and continued to walk home, very fast.

"We have to make him show it to us," Tesla hissed. "There is no way all of us would be here and he wouldn't."

"Netto wouldn't hide like that," Jasmine snapped.

Meiru sat in the back of the room holding her knees to her chest. Laika and Enzan noticed this and walked over while Jasmine and Tesla continued to squabble. "What do you know?" Enzan asked her.

Meiru looked up at them and then back down at the floor. "I don't remember," she said. "But… Saito seems so familiar somehow," she said.

Enzan and Laika exchanged glances, "Do you know something about Saito?" Enzan asked her.

Meiru shook her head, "Nothing but what I see in the class room. And, that might not be Netto," she said with a smile. "I don't think I've ever seen him turn in his homework two days in a row."

"Meiru-chan…" Roll said softly.

Meiru sighed, "I really want to go home."

Laika nodded, "Yeah, we know."

"What are you planning, Laika-san?" Searchman asked from his PET.

"A way to get Netto on his own," Laika answered as they walked away from the Head Quarters building.

"That sounds like a good plan," Enzan's voice said behind him. "Any ideas on how to do it?"

Laika let Enzan catch up with him and they continued to walk down the street. Laika shook his head, "He and Saito seem to be inseparable."

"This is too confusing," Enzan muttered.

Laika nodded, "I know, but we should at least try and get some answers and this is the one way I can think of right now."

Enzan nodded and they continued on their walk.

Gem and Stone had taken a small break to go to Internet City to get some new battlechips while Netto and Saito did their homework. As soon as their navis left the boys abandoned their work and started to talk. "We can't keep living like this," Saito said softly.

Netto sighed, "I know, but what can we do? Who can we go to without revealing anything?"

"I hate to say thing, but I'm beginning to think we're not going to get out of this with our link in tact," Saito told Netto.

"I'm beginning to think that too," Netto groaned. "So, should we just go to everyone else, or hang on for a little bit longer."

Saito gave Netto a small smile, "Hang on for a little bit longer. Who knows, maybe something will happen soon."

Saito nodded and flopped onto the floor. "Netto-kun, is this what life would have been like if I never died?" he asked slowly.

Netto sighed and lay down next to his brother, "I don't know. I'd like to think it would be though. Nice and peaceful like this," he sighed.

"Contrary to what you show everyone you sure like peace Netto-kun," Saito said with a small grin.

Netto stuck his tongue out at him, "There is a difference between net battling and fighting for the world," he said.

Saito nodded, "Yeah, I know."

"Nii-san?" Netto asked, his eyes slipping half closed.

"Yeah?" Saito replied also half asleep.

"Don't you kinda wish we could stay like this, I mean, if it was possible?" Netto asked.

Saito grinned softly, "That would be wonderful."

Netto laughed, "I thought so too, too bad it has to end soon."

"What has to end?" Saito asked.

Netto blinked and looked at the ceiling, "I… don't know," he murmured.

In the computer Gem and Stone exchanged worried glances. Something wasn't right with how they were acting and it just got a whole lot weirder.

Slur turned away from the monitor, grinning softly. "What an interesting little game," she said silkily. "Duo-sama, are you ever going to let the humans and navis go?" she asked.

Duo looked down at his small colleague, "I want to see if they can break free of the illusion on their own. Are they strong enough?" he asked himself.

Slur looked at the monitor, "I don't know about that," she said with a laugh.

"Have you changed anything?" Duo asked her.

"Just a few things, I want to see if Netto Hikari and Rockman are as strong as they seem."

Duo sounded pleased when he said, "Good plan, Slur."

"Thank you, Duo-sama."

"So we'll try tomorrow?" Enzan asked Laika.

Laika nodded, "It's our best bet for tomorrow. Netto might still be upset about today and we need to handle this bit by bit."

Enzan nodded, "Okay, I think I can wait one more night."

Laika turned away and started to walk to his own dorm that was magically provided for him. "It's not like we have a choice," he muttered under his breath.


	6. Chapter 6

Netto lay on his back as he stared at the ceiling. Everything was perfect, he and Saito had great lives and even if the elite force for the Net Saviors were a little annoying they really were nice people. But something in the back of his mind kept telling him that it wasn't right. Life wasn't like that, no matter how perfect things seemed.

"Netto-kun?" Saito asked from his bed.

"Yeah?"

"Do things seem, right to you?" Saito asked.

Gem and Stone listened intently but didn't butt in on the conversation.

"I don't know…" Netto said slowly. "We've always been like this, haven't we?"

"Yeah, I don't know what I'm saying," Saito pretended to laugh. "Forget about it."

Netto eyed his twin uneasily, "Whatever you say, nii-san," he said doubtfully.

"Yeah," Saito said to the ceiling. "Forget about it."

The next day Netto had taken a detour from Saito's normal route home. This was of course because now they didn't feel the need to protect their secret from anyone else, after all, what secret was there?

"You finally broke off from Saito?" Gem teased. "And here I thought you two were trying to see who annoyed the other first."

Netto laughed, "Nah, I just thought Saito-nii-san looked like he could be alone for awhile."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Gem admitted. "He has an awful lot on his mind," she muttered.

Netto shrugged, "Yeah, but when he's like that it's no fun to talk to him."

Gem laughed, "Ah, you abandoned him out of boredom."

"Shut up," Netto snapped.

Gem's laughs carried in the air. "Hey, since we're all about splitting up today, can I head to internet city for a few hours?" she asked.

Netto nodded, "Sure, fine with me. Just… try not to get into another fight."

"Hey, it's not my fault guys are stupid," Gem shrugged.

"Gee, thanks," Netto said dryly.

"Awww, you know I love you, Netto," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, get lost," Netto teased her.

"I'll be back by eight, you better be home by then," Gem warned him.

"I will," Netto reassured her.

"All right, bye!" she said cheerfully and disappeared from her PET.

Netto walked around the city, just taking it in. Everything seemed so familiar, but here and there, there were a few things that seemed… off. Netto glanced at the empty building nestled on the corner. His mind was screaming that something was missing but what, he couldn't tell.

"Netto?" a voice asked behind him.

Netto turned around to see two people he recognized as Enzan and Laika heading towards him. "Hi…" he said slowly.

"Are you… alone?" Enzan asked.

Netto shrugged, "Gem went to internet city if that's what you mean," he said.

"Oh thank god," Laika muttered.

Netto eyed them, "What's all this about?"

Enzan walked up to him, "Come on Netto, we know it's you. Stop playing games."

"What games?" Netto asked.

Enzan blinked, "You know we don't belong here. This is all an illusion. Now where is Rockman?"

"Rock…man…" Netto repeated the name as if it was in a foreign language.

"Netto get a grip," Enzan snapped.

"I have one, but apparently you don't," Netto snapped back.

"You think this is all fun and games?" Enzan asked him. "Do you like living with Saito? Netto I'm sorry, but Saito Hikari does not exist. He died and you know it."

"Enzan…" Laika said warningly but it was too late.

Netto punched Enzan across the face, "Shut up," he hissed. "Just… shut up…"

Enzan landed on the ground, hard. He looked up to see Netto glaring at him with a mixture of anger, but also fear and confusion. "You know I'm right," Enzan told him.

Netto brought down his fist, "Saito-nii-san… he's…" he shut his eyes.

Enzan stood up, "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing!" Netto yelled. "Nothing is wrong! Look, I don't know where you're coming from but it's not funny!"

Enzan was almost at his breaking point, by then it was obvious that Netto was just refusing to see the facts. "Netto, this isn't a game anymore," Laika snapped.

"It never was a game!" Netto yelled at him. "It's real!"

Enzan growled, lifted Netto up by the collar of his shirt and pushed him into the nearest wall. "Wake up, Netto!" he yelled. "We're stuck here while whoever put us here can do got knows what on earth and we're running around like mice in an illusion. Is that what you want? To live a lie?"

Netto looked at him in surprise, "Enzan…" he said slowly.

"Have you come to your senses yet?" he snapped. "Because I'm sure as hell sick of you hiding from us."

Laika looked from Netto to Enzan and back again. He really had no place in this conversation and it seemed that Enzan was better at getting Netto to snap out of whatever was wrong with him in the first place.

Netto grabbed Enzan's wrists and pulled them away from himself trying to get free. "Let me go," he hissed.

Enzan pushed Netto viciously back up against the wall, "Not until you admit that you are Netto Hikari and that your navi is Rockman and you know everything that's going on."

Netto blinked at him, "Rockman… he…" Netto shut his eyes, "Rockman is Saito," he said thickly as if trying to remind himself of something.

Enzan let Netto go in surprise. "What?" he asked.

Netto rubbed his forehead, "Rockman, his data is built off Saito Hikari's DNA. Rockman is Saito…nii-san…" he said slowly. "Aw, shit," he muttered.

"Are you all right?" Laika asked him.

"No," Netto hissed. "I can't believe… Okay, something is wrong here."

"Yeah, we figured that out, Netto… are you?" Enzan started.

"I'm Netto if that's what you mean. Because I happen to know that last Valentine's Day I dyed your hair…" Enzan quickly moved forward and covered his mouth.

"Don't even finish that. I believe you," he muttered.

Netto grinned and Laika looked on, a tad puzzled. "But Saito…"

Netto sighed, "I said it already. Saito is Rockman. Rockman is Saito. That's the way things are."

"Then why isn't he with us?" Blues asked.

"Because, his data is based off DNA," Netto said. "This world… it can't be separated into the real world and cyber world the way earth is, can it?" he asked. "When we were brought here Sai… I mean Rockman's programming must have taken over or something."

"So now what?" Laika asked.

"Now…" Netto sighed. "I think I should try and bring Rockman to his senses…" he muttered. "Something about this place…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, we noticed," Enzan said. "You take care of him and we'll get everyone else. This ends tonight."

Netto gave Enzan a small smile, "I hope so," he said.

"All right, see you," Enzan and Laika both said and ran off.

"Bye!" Netto yelled and he ran towards his house. "Hold on, Rockman," he muttered.

Gem watched everything through the monitor by the street light. She too vanished to the PC at the twin's house to tell Stone what she had heard. Slur followed closely behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

Netto ran into his house and up the stairs a quickly as he could. He opened the door to Saito's room with such force that it slammed into the adjacent wall and jerked Saito out of his studious mood. Saito looked up and saw Netto; he gave him a misty grin, "Hey Netto-kun, what's up?"

"Rockman," Netto growled. "Something's wrong with this place. There's something here that's forcing us to… I don't know; think its real or something."

Saito looked a little frightened, "It is real!" he gasped.

Stone moved forward to say something but he felt a hand on his shoulder hold him back. He looked behind him to see Gem shaking her head from side to side. Stone sighed and watched the small drama unfold in front of him.

"No it's not!" Netto snapped. "You're Rockman, you're my navi and we've been together since I was 11 years old. Papa made you from the DNA of Saito Hikari when you died from a heart condition called HBD at 18 months. Come on Saito, I know you remember," Netto said with a small note of begging in his voice. "You knew who you were when we came here."

Saito backed into his desk, "No," she shook his head. "You're lying, why would you make up suck a story!" Saito's voice started to have an angry edge to it.

Netto looked a little sad when Saito accused him of lying. "Rockman…"

"Don't call me that!" Saito snapped. "My name is Saito, and you're my little brother! Our navi's are Gem and Stone, you know that!"

Netto shook his head, "Nii-san," he said, deciding to use a neutral way of calling him. "Don't you remember, WWW, Gospel, Nebula, the Darkloids, the Asteroids, Neo WWW, everything? Come on, if you weren't a navi I think the world might have been taken over from the get go. You're Rockman, and my older brother, we've dealt with that for two years now, right?"

Saito shook his head, but unwillingly the memories came flooding back. "No," he gasped. "I don't want…"

Netto ran over and pulled Saito into a tight embrace. "You don't want to leave either," he murmured. "Just like I didn't want to."

Saito's eyes widened, "Netto-kun." He returned the tight hug and resisted the urge to cry. "Then mama and papa and everything…"

Netto shook his head, "It's not real," he said softly. "And we knew that."

"Why?" Saito asked softly.

There was a laugh behind them that came from the monitor making Netto, Saito, Gem and Stone all whirl around to see Slur laughing in the back of the monitor. "So that's what makes you two special," she laughed. "Your bond with your navi, it's so strong because he's your older brother. I wondered but…" she laughed again. "Amazing."

"Slur!" Netto yelled out angrily. "Were you the one who brought us here?"

Slur gave a mocking bow, "Duo and I wished to see how strong you and your friends were. If you were capable of breaking free from our illusion. But you two… how intriguing."

Netto and Saito both took a step away from the monitor. Gem threw herself at Slur screaming angrily. "How could you!" she yelled while pinning Slur to the ground, "How could you do that!"

Slur grinned maliciously, "Why not?"

Gem's eyes widened then she brought back her arm and summoned her default arrow. But before she could fire Slur disappeared and reappeared behind Gem. "Foolish navi," she snapped, throwing Gem into the far wall.

"Gem!" Stone yelled as he ran over to his fallen friend.

"You two are just part of the illusion. Objects created by this world to increase the realism. You only exist because this place exists. You're not real," Slur sneered.

Gem glared at Slur with pure hate in her eyes, "So? Even if we aren't, they are! And our programming be it non-existent or not tells us to protect those kids. Who the hell are you to play with the lives of humans like that?"

"Have you not been listening?" Slur laughed. "Saito isn't human. He's a Net Navi, and because Netto was also affected by my little program, I'm beginning to suspect he isn't fully human either!"

"What program?" Netto growled.

"I inserted a program into Saito to make him believe he was really part of this world," Slur said. "Just to see how things would pan out. Your body took the program in as well and you began to believe the same thing. How interesting," she said with a small laugh.

Gem growled, "So, now that this little farce is all over, what do you plan to do, keep them here forever?"

Slur laughed, "Oh, of course not! Now I get to see if you and the other crest holders can break out of this place without being destroyed," she said with a small grin. "Are you strong enough? Do you think you can escape Duo's power?"

"Why you!" Gem spluttered and dived at Slur who simply vanished. Gem crashed into the ground and immediately pushed herself back up. She looked around wildly, "Where is she?"

In front of Netto and Saito a small shadow began to solidify until right in front of them was Slur. "I'm sure you've guessed by now there is no 'real' world and cyber world here. There is but merely planes that navi's can transcend at any time they please."

Netto had half a mind to try and attack Slur himself at that point but Saito put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. "What do you want?" he hissed.

"I want to see your power," she said with a grin. "Show me what your true power is Rockman!" Slur lifted her arms and small black cords snaked out of her sleeves to wrap themselves around Saito.

"Rockman!" Netto yelled and ran to his struggling twin. Netto tried to pull at the cords but they were just too tight for him to move.

"Pathetic," Slur said in a soft voice as she summoned her sword. "I've waited a long time to finally get Duo-sama to destroy your pathetic planet."

Netto tried to shield Saito with his own body, waiting for the finishing attack but it never came. When both of them dared to look up they saw Gem with one of her arrows sticking through Slur's chest. Slur grinned then vanished. "An illusion," Gem hissed.

The small black cords binding Saito disappeared as well and Saito found himself being pulled to his feet by Stone.

Netto looked up to see Gem offering him a hand. "Ready to get out of here?" she asked him kindly.

Netto grinned and took her hand, "Yeah," he said.

Saito looked at his hand and sighed, "Netto-kun, we can't let everyone else know about us," he said softly.

Netto looked at his twin, "Well, you appearance is just an illusion as well right? Based on your DNA."

Saito nodded, "Yeah, you're right." Then he picked up on what Netto was trying to tell him, "OH! I can rewrite my programming to be like it was."

"You should," Netto said.

Saito gave Netto a sad smile, "I kinda like looking like this."

Netto shrugged, "Bah, it's to confusing," he teased.

Saito giggled sadly while Gem and Stone looked on silently. He walked forward, gave Netto a big hug that he only had a few seconds to return before Saito took a step back. "All right," he said softly. He shut his eyes and found the programs he knew were there, he deleted several files that he knew didn't belong and when he opened his eyes Netto was smiling.

"Hello, Rockman."

"Oh my!" Gem gasped. Stone just looked dumbfounded.

Netto grinned at them, "This is my navi, best friend and older brother, Rockman," he said with a small laugh.

Rockman waved, "Hey."

"Now what?" Netto asked.

"Now we can get out of here," Rockman said.

When the foursome went outside they saw that the world around them had completely changed. In fact, it no longer seemed to exist. Outside was just a large nothing, and once they left the house it disappeared as well. "So much for the illusion," Netto sighed.

"Rockman!" a voice called behind them.

They turned around to see Roll running towards them, "Roll-chan!" Rockman actually smiled broadly as he was hugged by the pink navi.

"So, you finally found him," Enzan said coolly. "What happened?" he asked Netto in a low tone.

Netto shook his head, "I'll tell you later," he murmured back.

Gem and Stone nodded at the other navis. "Aren't you part of the illusion?" Blues asked.

Gem shook her head, "We're real navis. Just created for something that didn't exist."

Rockman shook his head, "That's horrible."

Gem shrugged, "I think we have other things to worry about."

Charlie nodded, "She's right. Now that we've called the bluff we need to get out of it."

"How do we do that?" Netto asked.

A voice laughed behind them, "By getting through me," Slur said.


	8. Chapter 8

Blues spun around and glared at her. "So you're behind this," he hissed.

Everyone else and their navis immediately sunk into defensive positions. "Is she real?" Netto asked Rockman quietly.

Rockman scanned the data around Slur, "If she's not, we're in trouble anyway," he said.

"Powerful?" Netto asked.

Rockman nodded.

"Great," Netto hissed.

Slur looked at them with interest before holding up her hands, "So, crest holders, do you think you can escape this fake world? Do you have what it takes?"

Blues and Searchman didn't even reply to her challenges. Instead Blues leapt into the air and brought down his sword while Searchman took several shots from behind. The other's followed his suit and slowly, each navi attacks Slur at the same time.

Slur gritted her teeth and pushed away the attacks while summoning a nasty looking sword.

"We've got to find a way out of here!" Enzan yelled. "This isn't real, none of it is. That means there has to be a back door somewhere."

"How are we going to find it?" Meiru asked. "Our navis are fighting."

"And loosing," Miyabi added as Blues cried out in pain while he was stabbed through his arm.

Enzan winced at the sound of his navis cry but without battle chips or programs, he was as good as useless. The battle chips provided to them in the illusion world disappeared with everything else. All that remained were their PET's. Even the syncro chips were gone.

Netto looked around nervously, he knew with Rockman's help chances were they could find such an opening but it was a big risk.

/Does that really matter right now/ Rockman asked him quietly.

Netto sighed/I guess at this point, not really. All right, can you scan the area while you're fighting/

Rockman gave Netto a small laugh/No idea. But I can try./

Netto watched as his friends argued with one another in any kind of attempt to save themselves and their navis. Finally, Laika noticed his odd quietness and walked over to where he stood. "What are you thinking?" he asked.

Netto blinked, his blank stare replaced by shock. "Hm? Nothing, I mean…" Netto looked at the battle raging over them. "I'm trying Laika," he said stiffly.

Laika nodded, "I know. Any progress?"

"They can't keep this up, she's too powerful. Without battle chips…" Netto said slowly.

/Netto-kun, I found an opening/ Rockman said excitedly.

/Where/ Netto asked him.

/I'll send the coordinates to your PET. You have to try and get the thing to open./

/I understand, good luck, nii-san/ Netto said with a small laugh.

/All right, go/ Rockman said.

Netto looked at his PET where the coordinates flashed. "Laika?" he asked.

Laika looked at the screen, "That's where we can escape?"

Netto nodded, "In theory."

Laika sighed, "It's the best we've got. Come on," he said and ran off.

Netto ran after him yelling at everyone else to follow. Slur watched the humans with a small smile. "Oh, I wonder what happened?" she asked and flew at Rockman. "I'm sure you and your little brother had something to do with it," she murmured in his ear before sending him into the ground with a vicious blow.

Netto felt it as if he was the one thrown into the ground and he staggered for a few seconds to regroup his thoughts. "Netto?" Charlie asked.

Netto blinked, trying to get the pain to fade. "I'm fine," he hissed and started to run again. Before Charlie could inquire further they came upon a large fissure in the ground.

"Is this it?" Jasmine asked.

"I hope," Tesla snapped. "I want to get out of here."

"Well?" Meiru asked, "Who's going first?"

Netto scanned it with his PET, "It's definitely the only way out of here," he said finally.

Behind them there was a loud crash where Slur finally managed to send Blues and Searchman into the ground with one hit. All the other navis were forced to back away from her blade while she laughed. "Awww, your little humans can't decide…" she jeered.

"Go," Netto said and turned around.

"Netto," Enzan growled.

"I need to get Rockman," Netto said softly. "If you go then your navis will plug out because they are tethered to your PET's. After what happened here I'm not so sure Rockman is held to my PET right now."

Enzan sighed, "All right, but I better see you soon so we can talk about this."

Netto gave him a thumbs up, "Of course!" he grinned.

Netto smiled back and then looked around. "All right then, let's get out of here," he said and looked at the wide crack. "Okay… here I go," he told him self softly and jumped into it.

Behind them Blues logged out.

"Well?" Laika asked.

One by one the crest holders jumped in and their navis logged out until it was only him and Laika. "You better get your butt back to earth soon," Laika hissed.

Netto nodded, "I know. Enzan already threatened me."

Laika nodded back and jumped in.

Netto then turned around and ran to where Rockman, Gem and Stone stood alone against Slur. "Leave him alone!" Netto yelled and ran in front of his navi before Slur could land another blow.

"Netto-kun…" Rockman said in a stunned voice.

A small grin played on Slur's lips as she looked at them. "So by some miracle you all figured it out. Congratulations," she jeered. "And why didn't you run away?"

Netto lifted his chin, "I would never leave Rockman behind."

Gem and Stone gaped at the scene before them, unsure of what to do.

Slur laughed, "Well then, I guess you'll die together, that much I can do!" she yelled and got ready to thrust her sword forward.

"Enough!" a voice boomed.

The remains of the world melted around them to reveal space and Duo around them. "They have passed my challenge Slur. Stand down."

An ugly look passed over Slur's face before she said, "Understood," and vanished.

"You two have certainly defeated many expectations I may have had of human kind. However my judgment will wait until my final test," he boomed.

Rockman shook, "It wasn't enough that you toyed with us. Our thoughts and emotions for days, that wasn't your final test. It was just a game!" he yelled.

Duo looked impassively at the small blue navi, "You still have much to learn about the way human kind works," he said. "And until you know, you have no right to judge me."

Rockman glared at the large navi, but he was gone. They were alone, in space looking at the blue planet known as earth.

"Netto-kun, Rockman-kun?" Gem asked slowly, trying desperately to wrap her mind around what just happened.

Netto gritted his teeth, "This isn't fair," he said.

Rockman shook his head, "No, it's not."

Gem smiled and walked over to Netto, pulling him into a hug, "It's sweet that you stayed behind though."

Netto at first looked surprised then just a little sad. "I couldn't leave…" he said slowly.

Rockman nodded, "I noticed that too."

"Noticed what?" Gem and Stone asked together.

"The way out of that world depended on the human leaving and the navi logging out," Rockman said.

"Because our existence in there wasn't as operator or navi then nothing would have happened if I tried to leave," Netto finished.

"Oh," Gem said.

Netto grinned, "I wouldn't have left anyways," he said.

Rockman smiled and nodded to Netto. "I know," he said.

"The final judgment will be soon," a voice said in the dark.

"What?" Netto and Rockman asked.

There was no answer, instead a bright light surrounded them and Netto felt himself fall asleep before he knew nothing more.

"Netto-kun…" a soft voice said.

Netto groaned and pushed his face into his pillow. "Hm?" he asked.

"Netto-kun," Rockman said again.

Netto tried to will the voice away.

"Netto-kun!" Gem's voice split the air.

Netto sat up, "What?" he gasped.

"You're awake," Rockman said with a grin. "Good, Enzan-san just sent you an e-mail. He wants to meet with us."

Netto groaned, "Oh boy."

Gem and Stone both smiled, "So this is your world?" Gem asked.

Netto looked at them and nodded, "Yeup. Don't worry, we'll figure out something soon."

Rockman nodded, "Right, we will."

"But now," Netto sighed. "We've got some explaining to do."

"I can't wait to hear this," Gem said dryly.

Stone nodded, "I know what you mean."

Netto laughed shortly, "Don't worry. You'll hear it, soon enough."

Above them the comet glittered, promising the final judgment's wake.


End file.
